


Be Careful Who's Door You Knock On

by Heartithateyou



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cute, Cute Ending, Cutesy, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Gay, M/M, Meet-Cute, OTP Feels, One Off, One Shot, Random & Short, Random Encounters, Randomness, Romantic Fluff, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Stony - Freeform, Strangers to Lovers, Superhusbands, Superhusbands (Marvel), Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, otp, random drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 12:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12365808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartithateyou/pseuds/Heartithateyou
Summary: Toy stumbles to Pepper's apartment after having a little too much to drink.At least what used to be Pepper's apartment.Now there's someone tall, blonde, and handsome living there.





	Be Careful Who's Door You Knock On

“Pepper. Peppppppppppper.” He slurs out as he slumps against her door.

It was late, way too late and even through his drunken haze he knew he shouldn’t be here. 

But he was drunk and he was lonely and she wasn’t answering her phone, so he had decided stumbling to her doorstep was only kind of a terrible idea.

If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t know what he was doing here. They had broken up ambicably enough, even he had to admit that they made better friends/business partners than anything else.

But she was the closest thing he’d ever had to a relationship, and so he had ended up here.

“Pepper, I’m sorry. I know you hate when I show up all drunk and late, but I need to talk. Why aren’t you answering your phone? Do you have a guy over? Who are you seeing? What’s his name? How big is his-“ He cuts off as the door opens and he more or less falls into the apartment.

He blinks and tries to focus on the man above him, who is tall, blonde, and definitely not pepper.

“Hey there handsome. Even from this angle I can tell you have a big-“ He slurs out, before the other man cuts him off as he begins to pull him up off the floor.

“Are you Tony? Tony Stark?” The other man asks. 

“Yes, and I’m guessing you’re Pepper’s new boyfriend. Boo-boo. Boy toy?” He asks with a giggle. The other man has gorgeous eyes, even if they are fixed on him with a disapproving stare.

“No, no nothing like that. But she sublet me this apartment, and she did warn me that her ex-boyfriend and boss had a habit of stumbling by when he had too much to drink.” He says with a small giggle.

“She said that? What a dirty little traitor.” He mutters out, feeling slightly embarrassed. It was bad enough she knew him this well, but did she really need to tell strangers about him?

“She just wanted me to be prepared. Probably didn’t want me to be startled by some guy slurring out confessions at my doorstep.” The other man says with a chuckle as he walks over to the kitchen and fills a glass with water.

“Is that not your normal Saturday night?” He asks as he sits down on the nearby sofa. It was probably a little rude to sit on a stranger’s furniture, but he had been rude enough already he didn’t see a reason to stop now.

“Not exactly.” The other man says with a small smile. He only looks about 10% annoyed, which he took as a good sign. At least he hadn’t be thrown out yet.

“Well you must date a better class of guys than me.” He blurts out, before realizing how many assumptions he was making about someone he had just met.

But hey, a guy could hope.

“I don’t actually date that much.” He says softly, luckily not looking offended. Tony couldn’t help the way his eyes roamed over the other man, who was ridiculously good looking and apparently into guys. 

He should honestly send Pepper a gift basket in the morning.

“Really?” He asks, hoping he doesn’t look as puzzled as he sounds.

“That surprises you?” The other man asks with a smile. Maybe only 5% annoyed.

“Well yeah, face like that I’d be slutting it up every night. And that ass doesn’t hurt either.” He blurts out before he can even think about how that sounds. He was doing great with this whole first impression thing. 

He really did need to get a filter.

“Well slutting it up isn’t really my style.” The other man just laughs.

“Me neither. It used to be. A lot I mean. Like I slept with so many people I can’t even count. And that’s not because I can’t count that high.” He rambles, wondering why his subconscious is hell bent on making the worst impression possible.

“Tony, you’re getting off topic.” The other man says with another chuckle. 

“I know, I tend to ramble. What I’m trying to say is I’m not into all that anymore. Looking for a real relationship, which isn’t exactly easy to find when you have a reputation of being a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Which is why I stumble over drunk and lonely to Pepper’s apartment, for a sympathetic ear to whine to. Sorry, that was more rambling.” He says, hoping the earth parts and swallows him whole.

“Its okay. I like listening to you ramble. And I get it. I know what its like for it to not be easy to date, to find someone to have a relationship with.” He says sympathetically, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

“Really?” He blurts out. Not to be rude, but unless there was some hidden fetish or something, he couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting a relationship with the other man.

“Really. My name is Steve Rogers-“ He starts saying. 

“The war hero!” He bursts out, interrupting the other man. He had realized the other man had looked familiar but it was hard when his vision was blurry.

“I wouldn’t say hero.” Steve says softly, staring at the ground as he blushes slightly.

“Well I would, so would the news, the military, pretty much everyone-“

“Well it doesn’t make it any easier to find a relationship. Especially with a fella.” Even through his slightly drunken haze he can see the slight blush climb up on Steve’s cheek. He got the feeling Steve still wasn’t used to saying he was gay, especially not to random obnoxious strangers.

“It sucks, doesn’t it.” He blurts out, feeling uncharacteristically honest. There was something about the other man that made him feel like he could say anything and not have to worry about carrying on his usual façade. And if Steve could be honest about being gay, being honest back was the least he could do.

“It really does. Growing up, all I ever wanted was to be the hero, help people, do what’s right. Now I just feel like I traded having a normal life with a husband and family for all that. And I didn’t know how much I wanted it until I realized it was gone.” There’s a sadness that creeps into Steve’s eyes and more than anything Tony just wants to make it go away.

“Gone is a strong word. You’re still young, you’ve got time.” He says, trying to lighten the mood.

“What about you?” Steve asks as he turns to look at him, a serious expression on his face.

“What about me?” He asks, wondering where the other man is going with this.

“Do you think you’ll still find someone?” Steve asks, his eyes not straying from his face. His gaze feels far too personal and intimate for someone who’s practically a stranger.

“I…. I don’t know. Its hard when you’ve spent so much time running away from a normal life, finding someone, having a family, somewhere to call home. I don’t know.” He admits, the words pouring out of his mouth before he can stop them. He feels a tear sneak out and he tries to wipe it away quickly. He’s good at lots of things; mechanics, robots, cars. Being vulnerable was not one of them.

“Tony…” Steve says softly, placing his hand over Tony’s. His hand feels warm and strong, and it does funny things to his heart.

“I’m sorry, the last thing you need is to comfort some crying stranger.” He says, trying to brush off what he’s feeling right now. 

“You’re hardly a stranger right now.” Steve says, his hand staying over his. He wants to run, run away from the man showing him kindness and acceptance for no reason, from these feelings he’s causing, from the man who could hurt him in more ways than he could count.

“Sorry about all the rambling. I’m usually not this… open.” He mutters out lamely. 

“Me neither.” Steve says, enclosing his hand around his. His hands are strong and calloused and Tony’s pretty sure there’s some paint smudged on them. 

“I’m sorry, I should get going. I’ll let you get some sleep.” He blurts out, grabbing his hand back quickly. He tries not to notice the immediate lack of warmth, but it already has him wanting more. 

“Wait-“ Steve blurts out, grabbing his arm as he goes to stand, “You don’t have to go. What I mean is, its late. You can crash here.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you.” He says softly, wanting to run away but desiring more than anything to stay. Even though he wanted a relationship, a real relationship, it still cared the everloving shit out of him. 

“Tony, you’re hardly a bother.” Steve says gently, still holding on to his arm, like he can look into his mind and know he’s two seconds away from bolting.

“Give it some time, you won’t be saying that.” He mutters out with a weak laugh. He knows that Steve can see right through his lame attempt at masking his feelings and feel’s exposed. 

“Are you used to pushing people away?” Steve asks, staring at him with those gorgeous blue eyes. 

He opens his mouth to make another joke and shuts it, unable to find the strength and energy to lie to the other man.

“Makes it easier when they leave.” He finally whispers. Steve was ripping down every wall he’d spent the past fourty years building up and he didn’t even know it.

“I don’t have any plans on leaving you Tony.” Steve whispers back, pulling him gently towards him.

“You don’t even know me.” He says, letting himself be pulled closer to the other man. He feels so raw and vulnerable right now, he doesn’t even know the last time he was this open with anyone.

“I know you’re a good person, even though you try to deny it. I know you’d rather push people away than let them get close. I know that you deserve more than you give yourself credit for. And I know I want to learn more about you.” Steve says to him, never letting him go.

“What if you regret it.” He asks, so nervous about the response he can’t even look Steve in the eye.

“I’ve regretted some things in my life, but getting to know someone who seems kind and good and understands what I’m going through could never be one of them.” Steve says as he stands, bringing them so close he can feel the breathe of the other man on his face.

“Okay.” He says, so softly he can barely hear it himself. His heart gives a leap and he hopes this isn’t going to be another thing he regrets.

“Okay. Now, you can either sleep out here on the super old and uncomfortable sofa, or you can share my bed with me. One rule though, you have to keep it PG.” Steve says with a smile, so bright it makes Tony smile in turn.

“You act like there’s even a choice there.” He says, feeling his smile grow even wider, “But is there at least some wiggle room on the rating? What about at least PG-13.”

“Only if you want to end up on the sofa.” Steve says with a laugh as he grabs his hand and leads him towards the bedroom.

“Trust me, there’s a lot you can do on the sofa, in fact there’s this one position-“

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Feel free to leave notes!!


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